Administration Offers Relief To Sick Obamacare Shoppers

The Obama administration is giving people enrolled in a special insurance plan for those with pre-existing conditions an extra month to sign up for new coverage under Obamacare.

People enrolled in the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan -- created as a bridge to 2014, when insurers can no longer discriminate against who have pre-existing conditions -- can remain enrolled in the plan through January, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Thursday. It had been set to expire at the end of the year.

The plan provides insurance to those high-risk enrollees who were often refused coverage by private insurers prior to the health care reform law because of their medical conditions. It was created when the law was passed in 2010 as a means of providing some people with insurance until the law took full effect next year.

The administration said it made the move so that those enrolled through the program would not experience a lapse in coverage starting Jan. 1. It gives them more time to consider their options -- and ensures that they won't be left without coverage because of problems with HealthCare.gov.